News Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser Permanently Closed Fall 2023

[flynnibus]

The niche were people with large amounts of money that would normally take a cruise in the concierge area, who really like Star Wars, enjoyed the new movies, are into being part of the experience type shows, like a ton of structure on their trips (i.e. do this at this time, then to this, etc.), and are willing not to spend a few days on their vacation at the parks/lounging. It's an incredibly small niche, which was a large issue.

It's not really as narrow as people would make it. The target was people who spend these crazy amounts of money to turn their entertainment options over to Disney. Those types buying Deluxe stays, buying DDP, doing premium Disney experiences, etc. The cruise ships and WDW are packed with people like this.

The trick here was to get people to buy into a new type of entertainment offer.. one that spanned multiple days.. and be unique and enticing enough to get people to buy-in.

The problem was in their creative choices they made some alienating choices and cheaped out in some key areas. So call it choices in creative and execution ... and no so much about 'targeting a non-existent or too small of a market'.

There will always be a loud majority screaming 'this is too expensive...' 'who would pay that much?' while there is a smaller audience that DOES do it and is happy doing so. This is reality for any high-end product. Be it Rolex, Ferarri, or whatever... the gen pop will mock the prices while their actual customers continue to pay.

If they had a more successful story arc, and some better execution in the facility, I think it would have gone a lot further. I do think they over reached on the price point, but a lot of that is trying to set an image of value... while your actual price points can vary. Given the bigger happenings around DIS... that really never got to happen.

 

[edfhinton]

Three facts:
1) The capacity was incredibly tiny. 400 guests maximum roughly (fire code for atrium).
2) Highest ever disney guest satisfaction ratings. After spending that amount of money, if it wasn't an artistic home run, they could not achieve those guest satisfaction ratings. Guests who spent that much who didn't think it was great would be very upset and not rate it that highly.
3) Most people WITH that level of disposable income never heard of it or knew nothing about what it was and thought it was a star wars hotel which it decidely was not (it was an interactive adventure you just happen to sleep a little but at and not meant to be a relaxing vacation.) I and others have reported that when we describe the entirety of the experience to others we know that could afford it, the almost universal reaction has been they wish they had known and they would have gone.

Now of course I don't describe it to people who I think would not be interested, but 9 out of 10 I have described it to in detail say they would have gone if they had known . If you average the busy and slow times during the time it was open, they probably averaged between 50% and 60% occupancy. They booked the last 4 months in 8 hours and most people who wanted to book didn't get through. That was surge, but the marketing had not been fixed so it still is of the small subset who knew what it was. It doesn't take a lot more people to have been reached to have filled it for years. But you can't sell something for $6K that people don't know what it is. They also made very little attempt internationally (had planned future locations) to market the Orlando first attempt even though a huge portion of Walt Disneyworld visitors are fairly well heeled international visitors.

Original Trilogy may have helped. Creating a market first with smaller immersive experiences would still help. But they never reached even a fraction of the market it did fit with well honed messaging. That makes it a marketing failure more than anything. Artistically it is almost universally hailed by those who went as the best thing Disney ever created.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I think there's some semantics going on here. I think when discussing who this was designed for, you could argue they knocked it out of the park. But the problem is the people it was designed for is such an incredibly small population, they doomed it not to work.

Disney doesn’t understand Star Wars. So they tried to toss together a bunch of things haphazardly to try to serve “too many masters” that didn’t really exist…

They bought and believed it was “theirs to use as they wished”
When in fact based on its history, time and place…the fans “owned” Star Wars…more than maybe any other bucket of popcorn ever.

The niche were people with large amounts of money that would normally take a cruise in the concierge area, who really like Star Wars, enjoyed the new movies, are into being part of the experience type shows, like a ton of structure on their trips (i.e. do this at this time, then to this, etc.), and are willing not to spend a few days on their vacation at the parks/lounging. It's an incredibly small niche, which was a large issue. The line dance stuff was an easy target to laugh at, but easily overlooked if you fall into all of these categories. The problem is this is a lot of categories for groups to fall into. And hey, if I'm wrong on my niche for this, that further shows the issues their marketing caused.

Oh I think I see the problem there

 

[UNCgolf]

It's not really as narrow as people would make it. The target was people who spend these crazy amounts of money to turn their entertainment options over to Disney. Those types buying Deluxe stays, buying DDP, doing premium Disney experiences, etc. The cruise ships and WDW are packed with people like this.

That's not really the same market, though. The audience for the Starcruiser is a much smaller subset of that audience.

There are huge numbers of people who do the things you mentioned but still aren't interested in a 2 day LARP in general, much less one tied to a specific IP that they may not even like.

 

[AEfx]

I think there's some semantics going on here. I think when discussing who this was designed for, you could argue they knocked it out of the park. But the problem is the people it was designed for is such an incredibly small population, they doomed it not to work.

*I* am who it was designed for. Star Wars fans who regularly spend large amounts of money on Star Wars. And like a lot of others in that same category, we found it a joke. For some it was a no-go just because of the Sequel Trilogy theme, and for others of us who would have still gone if it didn't turn out that it was card games, costume parades, and phone games in a slightly themed generic 90's looking space ship.

If it wasn't designed to attract us, who was it designed for?

I'd also love to know who is supposedly giving it all these good reviews. The only ones I have seen are "influencers" who got free trips from Disney. Were are all these folks who spent real cash money full price and claim "oh it was so worth the 6-8 grand it cost us!" The only thing I have seen even close to that are a few people with lots of disposable income with like 3 or 4 year old kids who were just looking for photo ops - and even they say it's crazy over priced.

If this was intended for toddlers and small children (as most of the "activities" were aimed at) they picked the wrong theme, LOL.

This was a no-brainer for Disney, it should have been wildly successful - on Star Wars forum after Star Wars forum, people were so excited for this - many even AFTER the crazy prices, who would have been willing to save up for a once in a lifetime experience to live Star Wars. And once folks saw what it really was - they vanished.

They had to try really, really hard to mess this all up - yet somehow, they turned it into the biggest stain in Disney's nearly three-quarters of a century of park history.

 

[edfhinton]

The great reviews are from real paying guests. That's why many people on the last couple months had been multiple times. My wife and I went twice and we are not 1%ers. But it was within our means and that worth it. If we had any idea it would close so soon, we and many others who loved it would have gotten the word out. We didn't so we feel some contribution to not helping it succeed.

 

[flynnibus]

That's not really the same market, though. The audience for the Starcruiser is a much smaller subset of that audience.

It's the addressable market - the type that would be the audience to buy that product. That audience is who you are trying to woo to buy in, not that the customers wanted to buy your product before you actually marketed it.

Disney knew their demographic and their ability to pay before setting those prices.. and its based on who they were looking at.

There are huge numbers of people who do the things you mentioned but still aren't interested in a 2 day LARP in general, much less one tied to a specific IP that they may not even like.

People weren't interested in theme parks until Disney built it either.

 

[cjkeating]

*I* am who it was designed for. Star Wars fans who regularly spend large amounts of money on Star Wars. And like a lot of others in that same category, we found it a joke.

From the articles I've read, podcasts I've listened to and vlogs I've watched many uber Star Wars fans went to the Starcruiser and had a great time.

For some it was a no-go just because of the Sequel Trilogy theme,

If the sequel trilogy made it a no go I don't think you are a true Star Wars fan, if you are a fan you have to take the rough with the smooth. Also the sequel trilogy made up such a minor part of the experience.

and for others of us who would have still gone if it didn't turn out that it was card games, costume parades, and phone games

I had a great time and did not play card games, take part in a costume parade but yes I did do some phone games/missions on Battu for an hour or two.

I'd also love to know who is supposedly giving it all these good reviews. The only ones I have seen are "influencers" who got free trips from Disney. Were are all these folks who spent real cash money full price and claim "oh it was so worth the 6-8 grand it cost us!" The only thing I have seen even close to that are a few people with lots of disposable income with like 3 or 4 year old kids who were just looking for photo ops - and even they say it's crazy over priced.

a) I paid the going rate minus 30% so about $3,500 for two people and would have happily paid it again. The $6-8,000 figure was always for a full cabin or suite so not an accurate figure. Yes I have a high disposable income but I choose to go on holidays over living in a big apartment or having a car or having kids.

If this was intended for toddlers and small children (as most of the "activities" were aimed at) they picked the wrong theme, LOL.

To get the most out of this I honestly think you needed to be an adult or at least a late teenager. Minimum age 11+. Not saying you couldn't experience this with a child but they would need a lot of guiding through it at the expense of your own experience.

And once folks saw what it really was - they vanished.

Yes, it was marketed terribly.

yet somehow, they turned it into the biggest stain in Disney's nearly three-quarters of a century of park history.

One of the highest rated experiences is the biggest stain after 75 years of Disney parks?

 

[edfhinton]

It also wasn't as big a financial flop as most people think. They are looking to claim $300M or so in accelerated depreciation. Sounds like a lot. But they spent over 5 years creating it. $300M is about one tenth of one percent of disney revenue over the last 5 year period. As revenue and expense forecasting go, one tenth of one percent is pretty much a rounding error. Most financial managers would love to always forecast within one tenth of one percent. That doesn;t mean it wasn't important for the current fiscal year's books. Closing it and getting the tax benefits accelerated certainly helped their fiscal year numbers since it wasn't hitting whatever their target profit margin was. But as far as Disney overall spending goes it really wasn't a huge chunk. Now they need to figure out a business model for immersive experiences that has more room for variation in sales and market it effectively next time.

 

[Splash4eva]

Three facts:
1) The capacity was incredibly tiny. 400 guests maximum roughly (fire code for atrium).
2) Highest ever disney guest satisfaction ratings. After spending that amount of money, if it wasn't an artistic home run, they could not achieve those guest satisfaction ratings. Guests who spent that much who didn't think it was great would be very upset and not rate it that highly.
3) Most people WITH that level of disposable income never heard of it or knew nothing about what it was and thought it was a star wars hotel which it decidely was not (it was an interactive adventure you just happen to sleep a little but at and not meant to be a relaxing vacation.) I and others have reported that when we describe the entirety of the experience to others we know that could afford it, the almost universal reaction has been they wish they had known and they would have gone.

Now of course I don't describe it to people who I think would not be interested, but 9 out of 10 I have described it to in detail say they would have gone if they had known . If you average the busy and slow times during the time it was open, they probably averaged between 50% and 60% occupancy. They booked the last 4 months in 8 hours and most people who wanted to book didn't get through. That was surge, but the marketing had not been fixed so it still is of the small subset who knew what it was. It doesn't take a lot more people to have been reached to have filled it for years. But you can't sell something for $6K that people don't know what it is. They also made very little attempt internationally (had planned future locations) to market the Orlando first attempt even though a huge portion of Walt Disneyworld visitors are fairly well heeled international visitors.

Original Trilogy may have helped. Creating a market first with smaller immersive experiences would still help. But they never reached even a fraction of the market it did fit with well honed messaging. That makes it a marketing failure more than anything. Artistically it is almost universally hailed by those who went as the best thing Disney ever created.

Assuming all this is true i dont doubt you. Why doesnt Disney change course & keep this going?

 

[UNCgolf]

It's the addressable market - the type that would be the audience to buy that product. That audience is who you are trying to woo to buy in, not that the customers wanted to buy your product before you actually marketed it.

Disney knew their demographic and their ability to pay before setting those prices.. and its based on who they were looking at.


People weren't interested in theme parks until Disney built it either.

That's why it failed, though. They were wrong about the potential audience.

 

[edfhinton]

Assuming all this is true i dont doubt you. Why doesnt Disney change course & keep this going?

Disney is one of the best companies around at keeping secrets. We don't know what they plan. But they know it was artistically successful. And they said "something" will be done with the property. Given the huge response and bookings after the closure announcement, they would be foolish to have dangled that carrot out there if it wasn't some next attempt of some sort at Star Wars immersion. Lots of us have speculated on ideas. But Disney works on their own schedule to announce things. In my opinion, aside from the marketing debacle this was, they also may have gotten way too far out over their skis. Creating something truly unique that no one can understand doesn't help sell something that expensive. I think they need to have smaller experiences priced like they do Savi's and Droid depot, and maybe they could mix that with full length opportunities or maybe they wait a bit on reintroducing full multi-day adventures. But I think they need to build the market somehow in a more gradual way. I personally think a hybrid could work as the next thing. But to paraphrase an old saying, bad news about the starcruiser has travelled around the world in the time anything good about it is putting on its boots. So they might have to build the market more organcally as the most effective means of combatting the bad press and impression from the closure.

As for the specific question of why not just keep it going then, it is the right move I believe after announcing the closure to follow through for now. I think they were completely surprised at the level of surge after the announcement. They reportedly had plans for extra staff manning the phones for a week when sales reopened. So they did not expect it to sell out in 8 hours and be able to cut out the extra phone staff time planned for the following week. Reversing course would also cause a new flurry of negative press around whether the closing was fake or whatever other stories anyone would want to invent. Better to get the tax benefits, retool the business model, make adjustments based on the many interviews of guests that they are doing (including PAID interviews which means they really want to learn from the guests what worked and what didn't.) Then reopen as something that they can position differently to try to create distance while those of us who went hope they can keep as much as they can of what made it special.

 

[flynnibus]

That's why it failed, though. They were wrong about the potential audience.

No - that audience is still there. They just failed to close enough. And I blame so much on the product launch as well as some of the creative choices.

The type of customer and price point they were targeting was clear from the first survey they put out. It was said over and over but ppl just weren't listening because the target customer wasn't themselves.. and all posters could do was think about what THEY wanted.

Launching it like it was just some other WDW attraction was absolutely the wrong thing. It's hard to keep cameras out when selling family experiences... but it never should have been plastered all over youtube in the first hours with the typical WDW blogger community. Total mistake.

 

[edfhinton]

Launching it like it was just some other WDW attraction was absolutely the wrong thing.

This. But any next iteration, however they approach it, has one advantage if Disney makes the right move and takes advantage of it - they can use guest reactions to the quality of immersion and experiences from the first edition and not worry about spoilers. The fandom they built, even though it is probably only about 60,000 strong can be an asset they need to leverage next time.

 

[UNCgolf]

No - that audience is still there. They just failed to close enough. And I blame so much on the product launch as well as some of the creative choices.

The type of customer and price point they were targeting was clear from the first survey they put out. It was said over and over but ppl just weren't listening because the target customer wasn't themselves.. and all posters could do was think about what THEY wanted.

Launching it like it was just some other WDW attraction was absolutely the wrong thing. It's hard to keep cameras out when selling family experiences... but it never should have been plastered all over youtube in the first hours with the typical WDW blogger community. Total mistake.

We'll just have to agree to disagree here. The audience for that kind of experience at that price point doesn't exist in sufficient numbers to make it work -- it's the confluence of all factors that's the problem, not any of them on their own.

I agree that the marketing/launch was very poor, though.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

We'll just have to agree to disagree here. The audience for that kind of experience at that price point doesn't exist in sufficient numbers to make it work -- it's the confluence of all factors that's the problem, not any of them on their own.

That was always my suspicion about this venture.

I will pay stupid money to stay in a deluxe resort that I know is way over-priced at WDW and throw money at their over-priced restaurants. Honestly, though, if they had of offered me a few days on the Starcruiser for free as part of my vacation I would have politely declined. That would go for whatever IP it was themed to as the whole larping thing just doesn't appeal to me.

I'd be interested to know Disney's takeaways from this, but I wouldn't be surprised if one of them is that multi-day roleplaying experiences aren't what their market wants in sufficient numbers.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

*I* am who it was designed for. Star Wars fans who regularly spend large amounts of money on Star Wars. And like a lot of others in that same category, we found it a joke. For some it was a no-go just because of the Sequel Trilogy theme, and for others of us who would have still gone if it didn't turn out that it was card games, costume parades, and phone games in a slightly themed generic 90's looking space ship.

If it wasn't designed to attract us, who was it designed for?

I'd also love to know who is supposedly giving it all these good reviews. The only ones I have seen are "influencers" who got free trips from Disney. Were are all these folks who spent real cash money full price and claim "oh it was so worth the 6-8 grand it cost us!" The only thing I have seen even close to that are a few people with lots of disposable income with like 3 or 4 year old kids who were just looking for photo ops - and even they say it's crazy over priced.

If this was intended for toddlers and small children (as most of the "activities" were aimed at) they picked the wrong theme, LOL.

This was a no-brainer for Disney, it should have been wildly successful - on Star Wars forum after Star Wars forum, people were so excited for this - many even AFTER the crazy prices, who would have been willing to save up for a once in a lifetime experience to live Star Wars. And once folks saw what it really was - they vanished.

They had to try really, really hard to mess this all up - yet somehow, they turned it into the biggest stain in Disney's nearly three-quarters of a century of park history.

this…

…times 1000

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

We'll just have to agree to disagree here. The audience for that kind of experience at that price point doesn't exist in sufficient numbers to make it work -- it's the confluence of all factors that's the problem, not any of them on their own.

I agree that the marketing/launch was very poor, though.

I think you win this one…

…cause in fact there was no audience and they closed it about as fast as the animal kingdom boat ride

 

[edfhinton]

At the end of the day, we all will have our positions and opinions on the Galactic Starcruiser. As I see it, the camps divide mostly into:

1) People who never experienced it but had issues with price, style of experience, and/or choice of theming/characters.

2) People who experienced it, many of them multiple times, who mostly believe it is the greatest thing Disney has ever created.

At the end, regardless of reason, the execution of the business model did not meet the parameters Disney set for its financial performance so it closed. We will never settle a debate on why, but we can all wait and see what Disney tries next and how that fairs. Until then, readers of threads sich as these at least have been exposed to the multiple points of view.

 

[Touchdown]

It shouldn’t have been built at WDW. It is not something I was willing to do instead of WDW. It would have been a higher possibility not on a Disney Resort.